Object of Desire. A cow-shaped 8-quart dutch oven from the venerable french pot maker, Staub. Mrs. MM and I were invited to the grand opening of the Metro Department Store and Supermarket at the Alabang Town Center earlier this afternoon. We don’t typically attend these events, but a good friend is now in charge of construction for Metro Gaisano malls/stores so we dropped by to see what they had in store… Of course I headed straight up to the housewares section to see if they had any unusual items on offer…

I think this is the first time I have seen an extensive offering of Staub dutch ovens and other products. The cow-shaped dutch oven is a curiosity… obviously a frivolous and fun offering from Staub, for cow fetishists, perhaps. Great for beef or veal stews I imagine, I was drawn to it precisely because it was so unusual. The sales lady said it was priced at PHP35,000 and desire rapidly withered… :) That’s a whopping $830! The list price in the U.S. is roughly $520 and there are many available for $389 plus tax and shipping. But just in case you just had to have this, there is only one in stock at Metro Gaisano Alabang, so hurry. Keep in mind that 7-8qt oval Staub’s purchased on sale in the U.S. can drop to as low as $160 if you keep your eyes peeled for “bargains”…

Friends whispered that there were some amazing deals in the grocery, and sure enough, the fresh cherries were flying out of boxes that had just arrived from Canada. I haven’t had a fresh cherry in over a year, so we purchased one kilo at HALF OFF the normal outrageous prices for cherries in Manila. It’s a far less extravagant treat, and more within our budget. The specials on cherries at PHP500 per kilo are only available until Monday, or while supplies last.

The cherries are delicious, ripe, juicy and sweet! They also had blueberries and fresh apricots, peaches and nectarines. Metro groceries always have a quirky mix of local and foreign goods and they are one of my personal favorites for finding slightly unusual dry and canned goods. The frozen section also has some atypical things on offer.

While we hit every floor of the store, and managed a nibble or two from Margarita Fores’ extensive multi-cuisine offerings for pica-pica, I only managed this blah shot of the crowd after the official ribbon-cutting. If you frequent the Alabang Town Center, you may want to check Metro Gaisano out.

COMMENTS:

Maria
says:

Hi MM, i’m always fascinated of your interesting “finds” . I hope one day you will make a blog entry of solely kitchen must have appliances especially your recommendation on chef knives. If you already did make a blog post like this, please direct me to the link. Thank you. It will be most appreciated.

Aug 18, 2012 | 7:23 pm

corrine
says:

Wow, thanks for the tip re cherries. Yes, they have some unusual finds. I used to buy this bread flour which is available only in Metro Gaisano Cebu but then they didn’t stock it anymore. Great for my pizza. Hope they make it available in Alabang. I got great price for my Staub pot in Sur de Table in SF.

Aug 18, 2012 | 8:54 pm

khrishyne
says:

weeh, hope there is a pig shaped dutch oven for you mm.

Aug 18, 2012 | 8:59 pm

sandee
says:

Hey I was there too this afternoon! Too bad we didn’t venture into the supermarket or hear about the cherries earlier :(

You ought to check out this place beside Sucat Hypermarket (the old Makro) along the SLEX. I forgot the name of the store but I think they have a store also up north. They’re not Staub, but I saw dutch ovens that were being sold cheaply. Of course, you have to screen the items because I think some are old stocks. But I was surprised with the prices :)

Helen, that’s a shame really. I guess turnover isn’t brisk enough to profit on lower margins. But considering that they get them for a huge discount from retail price as a wholesaler, I wish they would be mindful of overpricing… especially in this day and age of the internet where it is so easy to check the prices elsewhere. Anyone wanting to buy several pieces can get them for 1/2 or 1/3rd the price in the states and stick them in a balikbayan box…

Aug 19, 2012 | 6:44 pm

zaN
says:

I bet had that been a Pork shaped dutch oven, you would have bought it not minding the price a bit. Cherries here is .99 cents a pound and you can hand select.

Yup, MM..here in BC. , I bought a few weeks ago….99 cents a pound! We had a thunderstorm/lightning a few weeks ago and a lot of the cherry trees in the Okanagan got knocked down so they had to pick the cherries really fast and flood the market…cherries were so dirt cheap!

bettyq and zaN, these cherries were from Vacnouver-ish area. Sneaky… They bought at 50cents a kilo probably and shipped them over airfreight and sold at $5 a pound and still made lots of money! :)

Aug 20, 2012 | 10:31 am

tercer
says:

that crowd photo makes it appear uncomfortably overcrowded in the store. and seeing security guards and other security staff type just reminded me of one of the things we observed in our manila visit last year … so many armed security at plaza malls, markets, public and private places, etc. it was a little disconcerting … we couldn’t decide if we should be alarmed or … is this true only for manila or is it the same in cebu and other major cities in the country ???

Aug 21, 2012 | 2:45 am

Susie
says:

MM, if you are ever in Austin, William Sonoma has their outlet in their premium outlet mall..it is incredible. Staub at prices I have never seen since. I am sitting here in total envy of your cherry purchase. The cherries in Miami this summer were superb but not cheap at all. I am back in Cebu missing the berries, the peaches, the cherries of the summer!

Aug 21, 2012 | 6:52 pm

EbbaBlue
says:

Last Christmas, my director here at work gave me the tasked of buying and giving special christmas gifts awards to some employees. And lo and behold – he said $125 worth of items from Williams and Sonoma. I made the phone call and the store chosed the gifts and wrapped them in nice basket. I got my own treat and I couldn’t believe how much each item cost, most are candies and beverages. I decided to return some of the items and trade them for a “Staub” cookware which I have not used since. Its sitting on my cabinet… like a trophy.

Cherries here in Houston is $1.99/lb the red ones, and the Rainier is $3.99/lb

Aug 21, 2012 | 8:35 pm

ami
says:

Thanks MM for the tip on the cherries. We managed to buy a couple of kilos and they were such a treat and a rarity.

Aug 22, 2012 | 10:26 am

Pam
says:

Thanks for the heads up, MM! Got to go around a bit in the department store area (which uncannily looks so much like Globus in Geneva), but didn’t get to really browse through a lot of stuff. Was happy to find a number of Cebu furniture makers being showcased. Hopefully, they bring more Cebu suppliers (Maybe Zubuchon, too? Hehehe.).

We went there last weekend. Had a great first impression. I like the selection of international brands at the grocery. Deli looks good and its more accessible than the Santis at Molito.

Aug 25, 2012 | 3:25 am

Madel
says:

Thanks for the info. The last time I had been in Alabang Town Center was probably 2weeks ago. I was waiting for the opening of Metro Gaisano. I probably hadnt noticed it. My sister passes Madrigal daily. It is just once in a while that she pass the main Zapote Alabang Road.

Aug 25, 2012 | 6:30 pm

Cel
says:

Do u have Dropbox for metro anniv raffle there in alabang? We purchased in market market…until what time is your store?